The theater was a cacophony of noise, a tumultuous uproar.
Hardly anyone left their seats; the audience awaited a final explanation, with many filming the scene and broadcasting it online.
Below the stage, Wendy Donovan’s face was ashen as several staff mbers held her back. She argued passionately with the judges’ panel, "You’re not selecting talent; you’re destroying budding stars! Letting Vivian Langdon compete is a total waste of a chance for gold!"
Amidst the clamor, Vera Sheridan sat alone on a chair against the wall, her back straight, eyes closed, as if everything around her was irrelevant to her.
The seat beside her was suddenly occupied, bringing with it a faint fragrance.
It was Vivian Langdon.
She turned slightly, looking at Vera’s restful pose, and said coolly:
"Senior sister..."
"You clearly have other paths you could take, so why cling to and fight for this single spot?"
Vera remained perfectly still, as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
Vivian glanced at her impenetrable deanor, sighed lightly, and felt a bit of pity for her.
"Two whole years of preparation, enduring so much hardship, only to end up as a stepping stone for ... and almost losing face completely."
She shook her head slightly, smirked, and whispered, "Honestly, I almost feel sorry for you. Why put yourself through this?"
Her lofty tone stemd from the powerful backing she had and was filled with "compassion" for Vera’s humble background.
Just as Vivian was about to express another word of pity, the big screen switched from the dance troupe’s docuntary to footage from the earlier competition, showing the judges’ scoring process.
The entire venue fell into sudden silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Vivian froze in her seat as if soone had throttled her, her fingers gripping the silver armrests tightly, her eyes wide open.
Beside her, Vera’s exquisitely painted eyes opened slowly, casting a cold gaze onto the screen.
The footage clearly and ticulously recorded each judge’s score.
The audience imdiately pulled out their phones to calculate, and finally, after dropping the highest and lowest scores and averaging the rest, the result was:
"Vera Sheridan, 99 points! It’s not 96 at all!"
"I got the sa! Vivian only got 92!"
"There’s fraud! It’s definitely shady!"
"Wasn’t the recording damaged? How dare you blatantly lie and endorse Vivian Langdon, calling this fairness and justice?!"
Angry voices erupted, fierce questioning and condemnation almost blew the theater’s roof off!
Only Vivian’s fan club sat dazed in their seats, turning to her with expressions of disbelief and faint embarrassnt on their faces.
Old Madam Yates was utterly confused, "This... what’s going on?"
Beside her, the eldest daughter-in-law shook her head slightly, but inwardly she muttered: Clearly, the Langdon Family played their connections for the child and failed miserably.
Under the scrutiny of all, Vivian Langdon suddenly stood up, grabbed the microphone.
She turned towards the head judge, her voice trembling slightly with "emotion," and asked tearfully:
"Team Leader Coleman! Why did you... why did you conspire to lie and deceive?! My score was obviously not higher than my senior sister’s, so why help cheat?"
In a preemptive move to protect her reputation and innocence, she shifted the bla back with a torrent of accusations.
Vera couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
Even at this stage, Vivian could still brazenly argue.
Vivian beca increasingly aggrieved, "How is this supposed to make everyone see ?"
She spoke more and more "wronged," as if unjustly accused of a heinous cri, "Or are you just bribed, using this thod to sar and ruin my reputation?! What’s your real intention!"
In the audience, soone couldn’t hold back and shouted, "You clearly bribed the judges for corruption, and now the video evidence is irrefutable, yet you still deny it!"
Vivian’s fans jumped up as if their tails were stepped on, with their leader fiercely defending, "Our Vivian is innocent! She was frad!"
"Right! This is a setup! It’s all to elevate Vera and deliberately blacken our Vivian!"
As the drama escalated, the theater’s back door quietly opened.
Noah Grant stood tall and straight, watching the scene unfold without a hint of expression, giving the police team captain beside him a look.
The next mont, several uniford officers moved through the crowd, swiftly heading directly to the stage.
The whole room fell into silence, all eyes focusing on the dark figures.
The leading officer approached Vivian, showed his badge, and spoke calmly and authoritatively:
"Ms. Vivian Langdon, you are currently suspected of involvent in an ’incitent of intentional harm via corrosive substances’ case. We are now summoning you to the police station for investigation."
"Please cooperate!"
The words left everyone in the theater staring wide-eyed at Vivian in disbelief.
"Incitent," "corrosive substances," these words struck a nerve in everyone.
Could the high-and-mighty ballet princess Vivian Langdon really commit such a heinous act behind the scenes?
"Nonsense! What nonsense are you talking about?!"
Old Madam Yates sprang up, heavily stamping her cane, "How could my granddaughter be involved in this?! You must be mistaken!"
Vivian’s lips trembled, looking gravely wronged, "Grandma... I don’t know, I know nothing... why do they have to slander like this..."
Her act wasn’t finished when gasps erupted from the audience,
"It’s on the internet!"
"It’s the private ssages between Vivian and that lunatic who threw acid! She suggested and urged him to harm Vera!"
"It’s true, she orchestrated it! There are screenshots of the chat!"
Suddenly, almost everyone lowered their heads to look at their phones.
The lead officer took a step forward, his tone stern and indisputable: "Ms. Vivian Langdon, please cooperate!"
As he spoke, a female officer swiftly stepped forward and handcuffed Vivian.
Old Madam Yates slumped back into her chair, turning to her eldest daughter-in-law, incoherently, "Let see... is it real... how could Vivian do sothing like this..."
Vera watched Vivian’s retreating figure as she was taken away, twisted her lips, let out a silent sigh, and instinctively scanned the crowd for that tall silhouette.
The next mont, their gazes t, perfectly in sync.
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